Knee cap or cover.



W. T. STALL.

KNEE CAP 0R COVER.

APPLICATION HLED JAN. 31. 1917.

1,258,052. Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

ATTYS- State of Massachusetts,

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIo WALTER T. STALL, OE BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 WALTER T. STALL AND CHARLES H. DEAN, DOING BUSINESS AS COPARTNERS UNDER THE FIRM-NAME OF STALL & DEAN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

KNEE CA]? GR COVER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

Application filed January 31, 1917. Serial No. 145,621.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, WALTER T. STALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brockton, in the county of Plymouth and have invented new and useful Improvements in Knee Caps or Covers, of which the following is a spec1fication.

This invention relates to knee caps or covers of elastic woven fabric fashioned to embrace the .knee and portions of'the leg of the wearer at, above, and below, the knee joint, and caused by its elasticity to conform closely to the embraced portions of the leg and joint. In some cases, the cap has a longitudinal opening, the edges of which are adjustably connected b a lacing, and in other cases the cap is tubular or made Without separable edges.

In accordance with my invention I stiffen a knee cap of this character by providing the rear side of the cap with a longltudinal strip extending from end to end of the cap and crossing the rear side of the knee joint, the strip being resilient, offering greater resistance to fiexure than the fabric, and having normal] flat sides, the inner side conforming to the rear side of the wearers leg.

I have tried a strip of material, such as sole leather, as a stifl'ener, but have found that a sole leather stiffener is objectionable, because its sides are caused to locally bulge or present small waves or corrugations when the stiffener is flexed, either sidewise or edgewise. The corrugations which are pressed toward the wearers skin by the contractile pressure of the elastic cap are liable to chafe the skin and thereby occasion discomfort and injury.

My invention is embodied in a stiffened elastic knee cap, preferably adapted to be flexed in the various directions required I) the leg action of the wearer without deve oping waves or corrugations in the stlfiener and in the stiffened portion of the cap.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

Figures 1 and 2 are side views showing a stifl'ened knee cap, embodying my invention, on a leg.

Figs. 3 and 4 are rear views of the same.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the stifi'ened knee cap.

Fig. 6 is a section on hne 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a side view of a portion of the preferred form of stiffener.

Fig. 8 i an edge view of the stiffener portion shown by Fig. 7.

FFig". 9 is an enlargement of a portion of The same reference characters indicate the same or similar parts in all of the figures.

In the drawings,12 represents a tubular knee cap of elastic woven fabric, which includes elastic rubber threads suitably interwoven with threads of inelastic fibrous material, such as linen, the fabric being fashioned to fit the knee and portions of the leg above and below the knee, and the arrangement of the several threads being such that the tubular cap is adapted to contract and exert inward pressure on the embraced portions of the leg. A knee cap thus characterized is well known, so that I do not deem it necessary to fully illustrate its structure. In carrying out my invention, I combine with the cap a resilient stifi'ener extendin lengthwise of the cap at the rear side 0 the same, said stifl'ener being preferably composed of two parallel strips or members 13, adapted to be flexed sidewise, as shown by Fig. 2, and edgewise, as shown by Fig. 4.

Each member presents transversely flat inner and outer sides, and is preferably secured to the cap 12 by a covering piece 14 of fabric bearing on the outer sides of the members 13 and united to the cap by stitches 15.

The stiffening members are pressed inwardly toward the leg by the contractile force of the elastic fabric of the cap, and their transversely flat inner sides conform closely to the surface of the leg covered by the rear portion of the cap.

The stiffening members contribute materially to the efl'ectiveness of the knee cap as a means for preventing injurious wrenching of the knee joint when the cap is worn by an athlete, and subjected to more or less violent fiexure in various directions, as indicated by Figs. 2 and 4, Fig. 2 indicating the fiexure caused by a backward movement of the leg below the knee and Fig. 4; indicating the fiexure caused by a sidewise bending of the leg, these flexures often occurring simultaneously. While a stiflener composed of a strip or strips of sole leather is effective for time 13,

the purpose above stated, I have found, as above stated, that this material is'liable to be waved or corrugated by the described movements, and that these waves or corrugations are liable to chafe the skin of. the wearer. To obviate this objection I preferably employ a stiffening member or members adapted to present an inner surface conforming to allpossible flexures of the leg without being waved or corrugated. In other words, I preferably employ a stiffening member or members having provisions for preventing the formation of chafing waves or corru ations when the member is flexed in any 'rection. I have used with satisfactory results two stiifening members, each composed of two lengths of resilient wire, each length having a series of convoluthe convolutions being interengaged, as indicated by Figs. 7 and 9, and overlapping so that the member when viewed edgewise appears as shown by Fig. 8. When the member thus constructed is flexed side- 'wise the convolutions are also flexed and slip on each other, so that they do not form chafing projections. When the member is flexed edgewise the convolutions slip edgewise on each other, without being deflected laterally, and therefore without forming The wires at the ends chafing projections.

be confined by sheet side of the cap and having transversely flat inner and outer sides, the inner side bearing on and conforming to the rear side of the cap.

2. In combination, a flexible elastic knee cap or cover, formed to embrace the knee and portions of the leg of the wearer above and below the knee joint, and a resilient longitudinal stiffener, secured to the rear side of the cap and having transversely flat inner and outer sides, the inner side bearing on and conforming) to the rear side of the 'cap, the stiffener eing flexible both sidewise and edgewise, and having provisions for preventing the formation of waves or corrugations on its sides when the cap and stifi'ener are flexed in any direction.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

WALTER T. STALL. 

